I must respectfully disagree with your
horse trainer. I wouldn't get on any horse without a helmet.....not
anymore. I don't believe I hit my head when I was spooked off last
Saturday, but I did find the visor of my helmet askew. It's attached with
Velcro, and it was partially detached. Something must have happened to
misalign it......
Hello! This conversation about falling
off horses safely has made me feel
slightly more "average" as I thought I was a rare one
out there in the horse world who has been bucked and thrown more than
they deserve. Sure enough, yesterday I went riding on a horse that has
not bucked before, and he bucked (not very
hard)! Thankfully, I stayed on until the bucking ended but
then I dismounted. That was probably the wrong thing to do but I got
nervous.
As a teenager I had balance, athleticism as I
was in gymnastics, plenty of guts and a green broke
horse. Little did I know how much I had going for
me!! Things are different now after many moons and 8 kids. I
don't have abs any more to work in sync with my strong peasant stock
legs. I'm basically a train wreck but I still like to ride
horses! Maybe they should take away my license!
I also skydived and learned the "five point
roll" in which you distribute the fall on the feet, the fatty part behind
the calf, the upper thigh as you roll, the opposite hip and the opposite
shoulder. It really does work when falling off a horse, *given the
right circumstances*, but not always. In skydiving (eons
ago using WWII parachutes), they made us jump off a fairly high
structure backwards doing this falling technique. This is
probably similar to the technique used by stunt persons in
the movies.
I'm always amazed at the cowboys in the
rodeo...they seem to land on their feet after all
that bucking. I've seen my husband take the same
approach and just walk away.
Personally, I think each falling episode is
different. Some falls can be controlled better than others.
Also, I agree that the training does kick in instinctively and
it's worth it even tho it's not going to protect you in every
fall. I sometimes visualize myself falling off a horse as safely
as possible. I can't say I've deliberately thrown myself off a
horse in practice but I bet it would be worth it to take that kind of
training even at this late date.
By the way, I started using equestrian
helmets with my family since joining this group but I have one wee helmet question:
I'm wondering if anyone has found their helmet
to be in the way during a fall?
My horse trainer does not
use helmets when riding or in her riding classes with the
students. Her argument against the use of equestrian helmets is
that a person can injure themselves more when falling with a
helmet...she believes that
you don't fall as safely when you're wearing a helmet
because you've got an awkward bulky mass on your head which
can interfere with the fall and contribute
to injuries. (We did wear helmets in skydiving
but not when we practiced falling.) She does humbly
admit that she fell onto lava rock and split her head open requiring
numerous stitches but this has not changed her view on helmets.
It has freaked out her family tho and this lady is approaching her
sixties!
